2 women indicted after Tenn. murder-kidnapping

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The widow and mother of a Mississippi man accused of a Tennessee murder-kidnapping have been indicted, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

District Attorney Mike Dunavant said that the Hardeman County grand jury met Monday in the case of Teresa Mayes and Mary Frances Mayes. Dunavant said details of the indictments, including the formal charges, will not be released until a Thursday arraignment in district court in Bolivar.

Teresa Mayes is the widow and Mary Mayes is the mother of Adam Mayes, who authorities said killed Jo Ann Bain and her 14-year-old daughter before kidnapping Bain’s two other girls and taking them to Guntown, Miss.

An intense search for Adam Mayes in the north Mississippi woods ended May 10 when he fatally shot himself. The girls, ages 12 and 8, were rescued.

The Mayes women have been held without bond since their arrests in May. Teresa Mayes had been held on charges of murder and especially aggravated kidnapping and Mary Mayes had been held on an especially aggravated kidnapping charge. They are expected to enter pleas in the case on Thursday.

Authorities said Teresa Mayes was waiting in the car when her husband beat and strangled Jo Ann Bain and smothered Adrienne Bain at the Bain home in Whiteville, Tenn. on April 27. The couple then drove to Guntown with the bodies and the two surviving girls, 12-year-old Alexandria and 8-year-old Kyliyah.

Adam Mayes, 35, buried the bodies in the backyard of the home he shared with his wife and mother before escaping into the woods with the two girls, authorities said. Mary Mayes is accused of knowing about the abductions and not telling authorities about it.

A statement by Teresa Mayes was read in general sessions court by a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation special agent in October.

Teresa Mayes told investigators that her husband had been planning the kidnapping of the Bain girls for a year. She told investigators that her husband was infatuated with Alexandria and feared losing her because her family was planning a move to Arizona.

Teresa Mayes said her husband drugged the girls’ father, Gary Bain, before the killings.

Adam Mayes threatened to kill his wife if she didn’t help him, the statement said.

Teresa Mayes lawyer, Shana Johnson, said she could not comment because she has not received a copy of the indictment. Mary Mayes lawyer, Terry Dycus, could not be reached for comment. Both women have undergone mental evaluations.